I got drenched on the way to the bus stop. So today I have brought my umbrella to work.
As Lincolnshire is the windiest place in England this may seem like a pretty duh thing to do, however high speed rain is much nastier than normal rain and a properly tilted brolly can be a godsend!
Hoods are useless unless weighted with 4 lbs worth of er stuff, or clipped to your hair, but clipping to your hair leads to extreme pain and slight scalping.
I have very fond memories of a see-through plastic brolly when I was little, about 4, was very warm and I could always see where the puddles were... to splash in obviously! 
*Kenders floats off into the past...*
I've seen people with see-through umbrellas, where can I get one?!
SeasideMan
Pro 
Ah, what you need is a proper outdoorsy coat with a hood that does up into a snorkel type thing that looks like you have a mini Elephant's trunk attached to your face. Or chin-straps.
Tom.